The most powerful man in boxing might be suffering from an illness that’s slowly eroding his health and memory. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh recently appeared in an interview with Ring Magazine. And his comments left fans concerned about his health, sparking a plethora of questions.

Speaking about trying to unite the fragmented powers in boxing, the Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia told reporters about the effects of his illness. Although he didn’t go into detail about what he has been going through, several past reports appear to provide a clear picture.

Does Turki Alalshikh have a brain tumor? 

“I want to do it before losing my memory,” Alalshikh said during the Ring Magazine interview. “I’m afraid in 2028 or 2029 I’ll forget my name.”

Although Alalshikh didn’t reveal the details about his illness, rumors had been circulating on X since 2016. Those rumors were confirmed when The Athletic shared a detailed report about Alalshikh in April 2025. According to the outlet, Alalshikh was diagnosed with several forms of cancer in 2015 and beyond. Among them was a tumor located in his brain, close to his pituitary gland. 

While struggling with health problems, he became the chairman of the General Sports Authority (GSA) on September 6, 2017. But even then, his illness kept him busy with treatment in New York throughout 2018 and 2019. As this was happening, Alalshikh also took over the role of chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) in 2018. Some good news finally came in 2020. 

A January 2020 report from Lovin Riyadh confirmed that Alalshikh had undergone a successful surgery in 2020 in the United States to remove a tumor. Shedding further light on his illness, Alalshikh spoke to Kuwaiti podcaster Ammar Taqi in January 2024, where he revealed that one of his operations had gone wrong, and it left him with a wound that bled for 50 days and months of inflammation. 

But overall, it had appeared that he had gotten a second life, but his recent comments suggest he is still struggling with some illness. According to The Brain Tumour Charity, a brain tumor can cause memory loss because of the tumor itself or because of the treatment. While the exact cause of the memory loss Alalshikh is talking about is unknown, it’s this illness that pushed him to invest in boxing.

Alalshikh’s health issues had something to do with Saudi Arabia’s enormous interest in boxing

From 2022, as the Chairman of the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has taken a keen interest in boxing. Think about it: Saudi Arabia, though Alalshikh poured in millions upon millions into the sport, putting together some of the biggest fights in recent history. 

Alalshikh’s goal was simple: return the sport, which many view as a niche sport, to its golden era. It showed not only his ambition but also his genuine love for the sport. And this accelerated push might have something to do with his worsening illness. In a 2024 interview with DAZN’s Ade Oladipo, he indicated that his health issues were one of the reasons behind putting together so many great fights.

“I like to work,” Alalshikh said. “I like it for my country and for the trust of my king [King Salman], God bless him, and the trust of the crown prince [Mohammed bin Salman] for me. And I even have a personal situation and reason. I have a lot of health [issues] in the last five years, maybe. And this has [made] me want to do everything and to see it in my life.”

Although boxing is still not where he wanted it to be, Alalshikh hasn’t stopped investing in the sport. Besides staging boxing events, he has also backed Zuffa Boxing’s entry into the sport, with UFC CEO Dana White at its helm. Alalshikh might be hoping White can replicate UFC’s success in boxing as well, returning the sport to its golden days. 

The only drawback is, at least for Turki Alalshikh, as he claimed, his health issues might not let him watch the sport he loves achieve its lost status.